Cove funds proposed -- as promised

Deirdre Newman

CRYSTAL COVE -- Cottage supporters breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday

when they learned that Gov. Gray Davis kept intact budget funding

reportedly earmarked for the restoration of the state park’s historic

district.

In his budget proposal, Davis set aside $9.2 million of Proposition 40

funds for the restoration project, said Laura Davick, founder of the

Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove. Proposition 40, passed in March,

provides for a total of $2.6 billion to help protect California’s air,

land and water for future generations.

Supporters say it has been a long struggle to procure funds to restore

the 46 dilapidated cottages on the beach. And they are especially

heartened that Davis withheld the budget ax in dealing with a

$23.6-billion revenue shortfall.

“I believed that this would be coming, but still, with what’s

happening with the governor’s budget and the tremendous amounts of cuts,

it was a somewhat risky situation,” Davick said. “It further demonstrates

that Davis is committed to the preservation of the historic district as

he has said.”

When Proposition 40 passed, state parks agency officials promised that

the cottages at Crystal Cove would be high on the list of projects

recommended for use with those funds.

In addition to the $9.2 million, the revised budget also allocates

$96,000 from Proposition 40 for sewers and $800,000 from Proposition 12

for El Morro State Beach, which hosts the trailer park slated to be

evicted in 2004.

The state has spent about $1 million to start renovating the cottages,

and the California Coastal Commission agreed to hand over $2.8 million,

but the major work awaits a hefty cash infusion as the project is

expected to cost between $12 million and $20 million.

If the state park funds last until the final budget, it will expedite

the restoration process, said Bette Anderson, president of Village

Laguna, a 30-year organization dedicated to preserving Laguna Beach’s

character and environment.

“We will be able to move forward with preserving the cottages at

Crystal Cove and make them available to the public, which is a wonderful

goal all along,” Anderson said.

* Deirdre Newman covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at o7 deirdre.newman@latimes.comf7 .